SELBY stayed at the top of the York Amateur Bowling Association division one table but second placed RI Amateurs have closed the gap to three points.

RI enjoyed a 7-1 home win over Wigginton, while Selby had a bye. Haxby Road had a crushing 7.5-0.5 home win over Holgate to leap-frog over their opponents into third. Dunnington had an easy 8-0 home win over bottom club Shipton, while a crucial relegation battle was won comfortably by Holgate WMC 8-0 at home to Hull Road Park.

Division two leaders RI Corinthians went down to a surprise 7-1 defeat away at struggling Rowntree. This meant second placed Dringhouses, 7-1 winners at Osbaldwick, and third placed Bootham, who won 6-2 at home to Harrogate, were able to close the gap.

West Park won a close game 5-3 at home to Scarcroft. The bottom four are now covered by just eight points and, with two to go down, the tension is rising.

The top two in division three inflicted heavy wins to open a gap on the rest. Leaders Poppleton Road WMC whitewashed Retreat 8-0, while Burnholme put their cup defeat behind them to continue their fine league form with a win at Stamford Bridge 7-1.

Copmanthorpe defeated Clifton 6-2 to put a dent in their promotion hopes.

Holgate, meanwhile, look to be on course to win the York C&IU Evening League after taking maximum points from Clarence who now trail the leaders in second position by nine points.

Railway Institute and Burton Lane are joint third after both won their respective games by eight points to nil.

The finals of the John Smith's triples competition take place on Tuesday, August 4 at the Railway Institute green, Ashton Lane (6.45pm start).

In the Cup, last year's winners Clarence 'C', led by Vic Thompson, will play John Crowe's Holgate 'C', who were beaten finalists in 2013.

The Plate final sees Holgate 'B', led by Graham Bell, cup winner with Tramways in 2013 and runner-up in last year's cup final with Holgate 'B', take on Tramways with the Douglas brothers Bob and Barry in prominence.

Sarah Buckle, Regional Sales Manager, Heineken UK Limited will be on hand to present the trophies.

Elsewhere, entries are now being sought for the Super 7 bowls tournament.

The competition, which is open to all clubs from the YABA, C&IU, Veterans, Ladies and Mixed, sees a format of two pairs and one triple per team. The pairs will play 16 ends and the triple 15 ends in group matches and knockout stages.

In the final, pairs play 20 ends and triple 18.

Teams will be drawn into groups and will play three to four round robin matches. Those matches are expected to get under way around Wednesday, August 12 with the grand final expected to be played in early September.

For more information, contact John Stroughair on 07855 944592.

* A total of 28 Wigginton members turned out to compete in the club's annual Chairman and Captain's Shield Competition. The winners were John Parsons and Bill Tomlinson.